27 February 2017 - Daily Current Affairs

Electoral Bonds to be sale from 1st March

The first sale of Electoral Bonds will commence from the 1st of next month for a period of ten days.

The Ministry of Finance said that State Bank of India has been authorized to issue and encash Electoral Bonds initially at its four authorised branches.

Electoral Bond will be valid for 15 days from the date of issue and no payment shall be made to any payee Political Party if the Bond is deposited after the expiry of the validity period.

All About Electoral Bond’ scheme

Electoral Bond’ scheme announced which aimed at increasing transparency in political funding. The Union Finance electoral bonds scheme was announced by the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the 2017 Budget.

Objective - to bring transparency in the funding of political parties and elections.

Key points –

1. Interest-free instrument - Electoral bonds would be a bearer instrument like promissory note and an interest-free banking instrument.

2. Denomination - Electoral bonds can be purchased for any value in multiples of ₹1,000, ₹10,000, ₹10 lakh, and ₹1 crore.

3. Outlet - From any of the specified branches of the State Bank of India.

4. KYC norms mandatory - The purchaser will be allowed to buy electoral bonds only on due fulfillment of all the extant KYC norms and by making payment from a bank account.

5. Validity - The bonds will have a life of 15 days during which they can be used to make donations to registered political parties that have secured not less than 1% of the votes polled in the last election to the Lok Sabha or Assembly.

6. Available only 4 months in a year - The bonds shall be available for purchase for a period of 10 days each in the months of January, April, July and October, with an additional 30 days to be specified by the Central government in the year of a general election.

7. The bond shall be encashed by an eligible political party only through a designated bank account with the authorised bank.

8. It will not carry the name of the payee.

Bihar is among top states in FY17 growth rate

According to the latest Economic Survey tabled in Bihar State Assembly, the growth rate of the Bihar state is higher than that of the national average of 7.0 percent in FY17.

The state has consistently been revenue surplus, which increased from Rs 5,101 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 10,819 crore in 2016-17, Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi told reporters after tabling the survey on the first day of the Budget Session.

The Gross Financial Deficit (GFD) of the state government rose by Rs 4,418 crore in 2016-17 over the previous year, compared to an increase of Rs 883 crore in 2015-16.

NCAER pegs India's economic growth at 7.5 percent in 2018-19

National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has projected India’s economic growth at 7.5 percent in 2018-19.

It further said the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation is projected at 6.4 percent for 2017-18.

The growth rates in exports and imports, in dollar terms, are estimated at 12.8 percent and 24.8 percent, respectively.

FIU released list of 9500 high-risk finance companies

Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has released a list of around 9500 Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), which have been categorised as high-risk financial institutions.

The FIU under the Finance Ministry has released the list on its website showing the names of these NBFCs which have been found non-compliant to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act rules.

Gopi Thonakal retains his title at New Delhi Marathon

Gopi Thonakal the Asian Champion retained his title at the IDBI Federal Life Insurance New Delhi Marathon.